Recordings of Lennox Berkeley's music

French Connections

Format: CD
Label: Linn Records
Release date: November 2015
Catalogue no: CKD477

The breadth of repertoire on French Connections showcases Ainsley's range, expansive vocal colour, expressive voice and exceptional understanding of text. Accompanying Ainsley is Malcolm Martineau, to whom Heggie's Friendly Persuasions is dedicated.

The American composer pays homage to Poulenc with four imaginative songs, each of which recreates in miniature a transformative friendship in Poulenc's life. In 2008 Ainsley and Martineau gave the world premiere performance of Friendly Persuasions at Wigmore Hall, London.

The recital also includes three works by Poulenc: Fancy, Bleuet and Tel jour telle nuit, a beautifully conceived and shaped cycle; considered Poulenc's greatest vocal work it is reminiscent of the great cycles of a century earlier such as Winterreise or Dichterliebe.

Despite French heritage and fluency in the language Berkeley's friendship with Britten led him to set verse by the English poet, W.H. Auden instead. His Five Poems are some of the best of their kind; a cohesive and satisfying collection, Berkeley perfectly captures both the fanciful and reflective elements of Auden's poetry.

Auden in turn re-introduced Britten to the works of John Donne, which Britten went on to set in his Holy Sonnets; darkly moving and highly demanding, they are among his finest work. (Synopsis by Linn Records)

• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)

Performed by Malcolm Martineau (piano) & John Mark Ainsley (tenor)

Songs of Lennox Berkeley

Format: CD
Label: Chandos Records
Release date: June 2009
Catalogue no: CHAN10528

• Tombeaux
  • 1) Le Tombeau de Sappho
  • 2) Le Tombeau de Socrates
  • 3) Le Tombeau d'un Fleuve
  • 4) Le Tombeau de Narcissus
  • 5) Le Tombeau de Don Juan
• D'un vanneur de blé aux vents (1st version of no. 1 of Three Early Songs)
• Bells of Cordoba (op. 14 part 2)
• Ode du premier jour de mai (op. 14 part 2)
• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)
• Autumn's Legacy (op. 58)
• Automne (op. 60 part 3)
• Five Chinese Songs (op. 78)
• Five Herrick Poems (op. 89)
• Sonnet (op. 102)
• How Love Came In

Performed by James Gilchrist (tenor), Anna Tilbrook (piano) & Alison Nicholls (harp)

The Best of British Composers

Format: CD
Label: EMI
Release date: October 2003
Catalogue no: 5 85156 2

Features no. 5 of the Five Poems of W H Auden, Carry Her Over the Water

• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)

Performed by Ernest Lush (piano) & Thomas Hemsley (baritone)

Britten/Berkeley: Auden songs

Format: CD & Digital download
Label: Naxos
Release date: September 2003
Catalogue no: 8.557204

Another of the 2003 releases from Naxos is a collection of settings of words by WH Auden, recorded by Philip Langridge (tenor), with Steuart Bedford (piano).

• Lay Your Sleeping Head, My Love (op. 14 part 2)
• Night Covers Up the Rigid Land (op. 14 part 2)
• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)

A Lennox Berkeley Centenary Album

Format: CD
Label: EMI
Release date: August 2003
Catalogue no: 585 1382

Track 32 is the Polka (op. 5/1) played by Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick (2 pianos, 3 hands)

• Polka (op. 5 part 1)
• Six Preludes (op. 23)
• Four Poems of St. Teresa of Avila (op. 27)
• Three Greek Songs (op. 38)
• Trio (op. 44)
• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)
• The Lord is My Shepherd (op. 91 part 1)
• I Sing of a Maiden

Performed by the Collegium Musicum Londinii, Choir of King's College Cambridge, Dennis Brain (horn), Colin Horsley (piano), Pamela Bowden (contralto), John Minchinton (conductor), Manoug Parikian (violin), Ernest Lush (piano), Thomas Hemsley (baritone), Phyllis Sellick, Cyril Smith, Andrew Davis, David Willcocks (conductor), Christopher Hughes, Stephen Cleobury (conductor) & Thomas Rose

Janet Baker

Format: CD
Label: BBC Legends
Release date: April 2003
Catalogue no: BBCL41172

• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)

Performed by Janet Baker & Geoffrey Parsons (piano)

Favourite English Songs

Format: CD & Digital download
Label: Chandos Records
Release date: August 2002
Catalogue no: CHAN 6653

Features O lurcher-loving collier (no. 2) from Five Poems by W H Auden

• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)

Performed by Felicity Lott (soprano) & Graham Johnson (piano)

A Century Of English Song, Volume 1

Format: CD
Label: Somm Recordings
Release date: January 1998
Catalogue no: SOMMCD213

• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)

Performed by Sarah Leonard (soprano) & Malcolm Martineau (piano)

Benjamin Britten, Lennox Berkeley, W H Auden

Format: CD
Label: Collins Classics
Release date: January 1998
Catalogue no: 14902

• Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)

Performed by Steuart Bedford (conductor) & Philip Langridge